For years, I’ve had a personal goal to daily (if I miss a day, it’s near daily but most often, daily) listen to or read a general conference talk from the most recent General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
This morning, Elder Gong was up, and I had the sweet privilege of relistening to his talk as I washed, sliced, and placed gayla apples in our food dehydrator.
I began this practice many years ago while serving in the armed forces on active duty. I had only recently begun my service and was – at that time – in military, mandatory training in Texas.
One particular day I was in the mess hall eating with some associates. I don’t remember many of the details, but I clearly remember that I was talking with one of my fellow airmen about the church and about how we had a living prophet. The young woman asked if I meant a prophet like a modern Moses kind of prophet. I responded in the affirmative.
For as long as I live and have my right mind, I will never forget her next question:
“So, if you believe in a prophet, what has he said lately?”
I paused. I stuttered. I came up with something but it wasn’t smooth. If memory serves me correctly, I said something about how our prophet had encouraged us to get and stay out of debt. It was a general principle, not a specific something I had heard or re-read from the mouth of the Lord’s prophet. I felt embarrassed. Though I stumbled my way through my answer, as I left the mess hall that day, I knew I could do better and that I had been called, in fact, to be better. Peter’s words came rushing into my mind: “…be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you…” (1 Peter 3:15)
I definitely had not been ready.
I repented. One way I wanted to remedy and make restitution with the Lord was to begin a daily, regular review of the words of the Lord’s current servants, especially his prophet and apostles.
So I began, and happily, I’ve continued.
But back to Elder Gong.
I love him. I love his wittiness and the often quite clever way he strings thoughts and ideas together. I love the content of his talks. I love his way. I just love him.
And I really loved his last General Conference talk. It felt especially important to me, because I am lacking in love. I feel consistent nudges from the Holy Spirit to improve in this area, that is matters a great deal, and that my more pleading, honest efforts will surely be magnified by the grace of Christ.
I’ve had experiences with the sweet grace of Jesus, and I know it can both save and change me, so the slow start or start and stop approach I often take with improved loving often feels frustrating to me.
But again, back to Elder Gong.
He spoke of “generative artificial intelligence” and said it “has made great strides in language translation.” He then shared this: “Interestingly, repeating extensive examples of a language teaches a computer a language more effectively than does teaching a computer the rules of grammar. Similarly, our own direct, repeated experiences may be our best spiritual way to learn the gospel languages of warmth and reverence, service and sacrifice, and covenant belonging. So, where and how does Jesus Christ speak to you in love?” (Love is Spoken Here, Elder Gong, GC: October 2023)
What a great question!
And what a powerful observation: our own experiences with Deity and divinity are the best ways to pursue lasting conversion. The stories and experiences of others are nice and often invite the presence and/or whisperings of the Spirit, but we must have our own to sustain and nourish us, and then those of others can supplement what we already feel and know.
So today at Untoalltheworld, I want to encourage you to continue seeking your own “direct, repeated experiences” as you grow your spiritual strength.
One time I heard a full-time missionary explain that the principles of the gospel (faith in Christ, repentance, baptism, receiving the Holy Ghost, enduring to the end in joy) were compared to climbing a staircase. The more purposefully and devotedly one participated in and lived these principles, the higher he/she ascended.
Both the principles and the climbing action are repetitive and seem unchanged in nature, but the coolest thing happens: as you continue practicing these principles with an honest heart and upright motives, your ascent rises as you climb. You keep climbing the same steps, but you are ascending. You are gaining ground and going higher and higher.
As the same principles are practiced and re-practiced, honed, explored, lived, and refined, the curved staircase moves you not only around and around and around but in time, up, up, and up. Higher. Closer to heaven. Nearer to Jesus. More like Him. Yes, you’ve done the same thing over and over and over and over, but you’ve become something greater, something less base, a higher kind of human, less natural, more saintly.
I love that staircase analogy. It is beautifully true.
Unto all the world: let us continually and diligently seek “direct, repeated experiences” so we will climb higher and higher.